Abstract: Consists of the records of Automotive Machinist Union, Lodge No. 1305, originally founded in San Francisco and later including
Marin County, Oakland, and Eureka. The collection spans the years 1919 to 1970, and includes minutes of the executive board,
bylaws, correspondence, agreements, ledgers, a roll book, membership applications, clearance cards, organizing leaflets, legal
cases, correspondence with the Grand Lodge, and records of a sister machinists union, Lodge No. 1414.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives & Research Center. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing
to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives & Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader.

Related collections in the Labor History Archives includes the records of the International Association of Machinists Lodge
No. 68 and Lodge No. 284.

Acquisition

These records were donated by JB Martin, Area Director of The Automotive Machinist Union, (AMU) local No. 1305, International
Association of Machinists (IAM). The records were received on three separate occasions in 1988, 1989 and 1991 and accessioned
as numbers 1988/18, 1989/13, 1991/21, 1991/22.

Processing Information

The collection was processed by Janette Martin in the summer of 1998.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog:

Labor unions--California--San Francisco.

History

Automotive Machinist Lodge (AMU) No. 1305, a local lodge of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), obtained its
charter on June 24th 1919. Local No. 1305 was originally based in San Francisco, first at 107 Valencia and then at 1750 Market
Street, until it moved in 1988 to the current location at 150 South Blvd., San Mateo. Unfortunately no printed history of
the AMU Local No. 1305 exists, but for a more general account of the IAM see Mark Perlman's
The Machinists; a New Study in American Trade Unionism (1961). Richard Prime Boyden's unpublished thesis
The San Francisco Machinists from Depression to Cold War 1930-1950, provides an account of machinists in the Bay Area.

The IAM was organized in Atlanta, Georgia in 1888 and principally centered on metal fabrication workers, initially representing
skilled craftsmen who had completed a four year apprenticeship. AMU Lodge No. 1305 chartered a little over thirty years later
and differed from the existing San Francisco machinist lodges in that it was primarily established to serve the needs of auto
mechanics. The charter of 1919 marks the founding of what was then known as the Auto Mechanic Lodge No. 1305. A survey of
the membership applications for the same year shows the candidates were young men in the auto and truck repair trade. Twenty
years later although truck and car mechanics still accounted for the bulk of members, AMU Lodge No. 1305 also represented
a diverse range of workers from bakery and brewery employees to mechanics employed on the maintenance of stevedoring machinery.
The lodge during this period used both terms "Auto Mechanic Union, Lodge No. 1305" and "Automotive Machinist Union, Lodge
No. 1305". Gradually the former name appears to have fallen into disuse as membership continued to diversify.

The labor conditions peculiar to the war years influenced membership patterns in AMU Lodge No. 1305. The most significant
change was the admission of the first women members. Their entry was eased by changes in IAM policies during the 1930s when
the recruitment policy was widened to include factory workers. These 'production workers' did not have a four year apprenticeship
and tended to be proficient in only a few procedures. Similarly, during World War II women who had not undergone the four
year apprenticeship were admitted to Lodge No. 1305 as 'specialists' or 'helpers'. Prior to World War II, women were only
encouraged to join the AMU Lodge No. 1305 sister lodge, Golden West Ladies Auxiliary No. 125, which was established in 1940.
The goal of the ladies auxiliary was to "bring within the folds of our organization every wife, mother, sister and daughter".
The Ladies Auxiliary was involved in social activities and also provided Lodge No. 1305 machinists with financial and moral
support in times of industrial strife.

In the post war years trade jurisdiction for Lodge No. 1305 covered an array of moving equipment (forklifts, buses, automobiles,
container carriers, lifts and cranes) vital to industries ranging from car rental to container shipping. Lodge No. 1305 also
represented the City and County automotive workers of San Francisco, Golden Gate Ferries, Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate
Transit. In 1956 the AMU Lodge No. 1305 successfully sued the city in the Martin shop case which challenged the legality of
the city's pay scales and vacation terms. The major employers of union members besides the city and county of San Francisco
included Greyhound, UPS and Matson Terminal in Oakland. The geographic catchment area of Lodge No. 1305 was San Francisco,
Eureka, Marin County and Oakland.

The history of a number of San Francisco and Bay Area machinist Lodges are interwoven with that of Lodge No. 1305 through
merger or as a result of Lodge No. 1305 organizing. For instance, AMU Lodge No. 1305 organized Peninsula Auto Mechanics Lodge,
AMU Lodge No. 1414. This local, chartered on June 9th 1936, was originally located in Redwood city before it moved in 1956
to San Mateo to share an office with local No. 1305. Similarly AMU Lodge No. 1305 organized Lodge No. 1101 of San Jose. By
the mid 1970s Lodge No. 1305 had absorbed the automotive units of Lodge No. 238, a mixed local. In employer association agreements
negotiated during World War II Lodge No. 1546, East Bay Automotive Machinist Lodge often acted in conjunction with Lodge
No. 1305 and Lodge No. 1414.

Unlike other Bay Area machinist locals, such as the militant Lodge No. 284 in Oakland and Lodge No. 68 of San Francisco,
AMU Lodge No. 1305 enjoyed peaceful relations with the Grand Lodge and in the war years especially, good relations with Bay
Area employers. Notable events and achievements over the years include the elimination of piece work in the late 1930s, the
1965 motor car dealer strike and the 1969 Greyhound Strike. The Greyhound strike occurred in the summer of 1969 and involved
three San Francisco locals, AMU No. 1305, IBT No. 665 and IBT No. 241. The AMU local No. 1305 was also involved in San Francisco
politics including the election campaign for Harvey Milk

Over the years AMU Lodge No. 1305 has been affiliated with the following organizations: California Conference of Machinists,
Northern California Machinists Automotive Trades District 190, Marin Labor Council, San Francisco Labor Council, California
Federation of Labor and San Francisco Automotive Trade Council. Lodge No. 1305 also enjoyed close cooperation with San Francisco
and East Bay Teamster locals, in particular, The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local No. 665, Garage and Service
Station Employees and Local IBT No. 241.

Scope and Contents

Consists of the records of Automotive Machinist Union, Lodge No. 1305, originally founded in San Francisco and later including
Marin County, Oakland, and Eureka. The collection spans the years 1919 to 1970, and includes minutes of the executive board,
bylaws, correspondence, agreements, ledgers, a roll book, membership applications, clearance cards, organizing leaflets, legal
cases, correspondence with the Grand Lodge, and records of a sister machinists union, Lodge No. 1414.

The earliest materials contained in the collection are membership applications from 1919-1925 (predominantly from 1919). Other
early material includes a Dues Ledger of 1919-1930, a list of members transferred, died or retired 1919-1926 and several Agreements
with Bay Area employers during the 1930s. A ballot paper for a Lodge AMU No. 1305 executive election held in 1970 is the most
current material. There are no agreements or correspondence from the period of the 1920s. The bulk of the collection dates
from the 1940s and is comprised of agreements and related correspondence.

A button from AMU Lodge No. 1305 and photographs relating to the 1969 Greyhound Strike have been moved to the button and photograph
collection respectively. No textual records concerning the Greyhound Strike are found in the collection, however the processor
compiled a brief account of the 1969 Greyhound Strike which can be found in the Labor Archive ephemera collection, folder
" Machinists, International Association of"

Arrangement

The files of the AMU Lodge No. 1305 are divided into 9 series: Minutes, Membership, Correspondence, Agreements, City Shop
Cases, Health and Welfare, Elections, Law and Legislative Committee. Artifacts were removed to related collections.